New blood test helps Texas doctors detect colon cancer in patients earlier

A new FDA-approved blood test is helping doctors in Texas detect colon cancer earlier.

Colon Cancer Blood Test

What's new:

In 2024, the biotech firm Guardant received Federal Drug Administration approval for their blood test called Shield.

The test is designed to detect colon cancer, one of the top three types of cancer for both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

Why you should care:

"It’s really critical to be screened and to catch this early so that you can treat it. And so, our goal similarly is to provide a more simpler solution," said Sam Asgarian, Guardant’s vice president for clinical development.

Those who can detect the cancer before symptoms appear have a much higher chance of survival.

"Stage 1 colorectal cancer has a 91% survival rate. That’s its earliest stage. If you find it at that stage, it’s really treating the cancer and hopefully living a high quality of life after that," Asgarian said. "Stage 4 cancer, those percentages drop all the way down to about 14 to 16%. So it’s a much different cancer if it starts to present with signs and symptoms versus if you detect it with the test early on.

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Local perspective:

This year, doctors in Dallas and across Texas are beginning to prescribe the Shield test.

It takes about two weeks to get results.

Asgarian said the rate of false negatives is low and on par with other similar cancer detection tests.

"The good news, too, is that the test reflexes to a colonoscopy when it’s positive. So, you can really kind of use that test after this test and not just locate and confirm the cancer, but also treat it," he said.

The test also has approval for Medicare reimbursement.

Guardant said patients have been receiving the tests in Texas with zero or little copay associated with them.

Colon Cancer in America

By the numbers:

More than 150,000 cases of colon cancer are diagnosed every year.

And over the past 10 years, medical officials have noticed a growing rate of people under the age of 50 being diagnosed.

While men overall are more likely to get colon cancer, Black men are even more susceptible.

"In Black individuals in that population and they’re 20% more likely. There’s a higher prevalence by 20% of colorectal cancer. And unfortunately, even worse, there’s a 40% higher mortality rate," Asgarian said.

Research from the Cleveland Clinic suggests red meat and sugar intake may be related to developing colon cancer at a younger age.

So, they’re advising people to limit their consumption.

The Source: The information in this story comes from a Zoom interview with Sam Asgarian, Guardant's VP of Clinical Development for Screening.

HealthDallas